Cast cultured marble shower pans are typically installed at the rough-in stage of construction. Because the shower pan is installed so early in the construction process, construction workers perform their trades in the area around the shower pan after the shower pan has already been installed. The construction workers may, for example, drop nails, screws and other building materials in the shower pan, and then walk into the shower, on the shower pan, and over the nails and other debris. Materials that are corrosive or harmful to the material of which the shower pan is made may also be spilled or dumped into the shower pan. The unfortunate result is that the smooth surface of the shower pan is covered in difficult to remove materials, is scratched, is discolored, or is otherwise damaged. A solution is desired.
Another problem is that at the rough-in stage in the construction process when the shower pan is installed, it may not yet be known how the surrounding area will be finished. For example, the type and color of wall covering material that will cover the shower enclosure walls and the other walls of the bathroom may, for example, not have been decided. Paint colors and cabinetry and other aspects of the construction project may remain to be decided, and it is desired to be able to finish the shower enclosure in way that matches or compliments the remainder of the bathroom finishing materials that have yet to be decided. Unfortunately, when the shower pan is installed at the rough-in stage of construction, the color and style of the shower pan has to be decided before these other design decisions have been made. A solution is desired.
Although synthetic cast shower pans function well, the look and feel of the artificial cast material may be less aesthetically pleasing to some than other finishing materials. In some circumstances it may be desired to use natural granite or natural marble for the inside surfaces of the shower. Alternatively, it may be desired to clad the inside of the shower in a beautiful artificial engineered stone material such as Silestone. To finish the shower in the chosen finishing material, however, a mason or specialized installer is typically required to cut pieces of the finishing materials and to tile or otherwise fix the cut pieces of the finishing materials to the inside walls of the shower enclosure. Sometimes finishing materials are to be applied to the floor of the shower and the same expertise is often required to tile the floor of the shower with finishing materials. The labor associated with this cladding operation can entail substantial cost. Moreover, a shower enclosure will typically have a drain located in a somewhat central location. The mason or installer attempts to places pieces of the cladding material on the floor of the shower such that the joints between pieces align with the shower drain in a substantially symmetrical and pleasing way. Unfortunately, getting the pieces to align in this way is often difficult and expensive. The resulting cladding of the shower enclosure can have a conspicuous asymmetry around the location of the drain. A solution is desired.
In addition to the above described problems, there is a constant demand for new and distinctive bathroom designs and looks. An economical, new and distinctive shower design that allows a shower enclosure to be finished with a selectable one of many different cladding materials is desired.